Clavius Productions presents:
Masaki Batoh (of Ghost, Drag City)
Kohoutek (Prophase/Music Fellowship/Pilz)
Insect Factory
Tuesday, November 2
Velvet Lounge
915 U St. NW, WDC
http://www.velvetloungedc.com/202-462-3213
$10, doors at 8:30pm, 18+
Masaki Batoh:
Masaki Batoh is the leader of the long running Japanese Psychedelic group Ghost.?Tom Rapp is a touchstone for many songs, as well as other fey folk like Nick Drake and Robyn Hitchcock. At moments, though, Batoh seems close to surpassing even such eminent sources. ?World of Pain,? at least, couldn?t be much more perfect ? from Batoh?s odd English pronunciation; to the bleak swirls of acoustic guitar, like gusts of snow seen through glass; to the false ending three quarters through, a momentary crescendo that tries to stop and then almost immediately stumbles forward again? - NoahBerlatsky/Made Loud
Kohoutek:
"The album starts gently enough, hauntingly evocative night-sounds punctured by the distant siren?s wail of approaching guitar drone led by a lone flautist. Random elements of percussion are gradually introduced as the marching army of psychonauts crest the brow of the hill, the sounds become ever more destructive, one punching at your midriff as another screws with your mind as it traces space-rock curlicues in the sky above you and then suddenly BAM! at the ten minute point or thereabouts a guitar announces the onslaught with an utterly captivating fuzz of feedbackery, there?s an explosion of sound all around you and battle commences. Side two continues along much the same improvisational freakout path throughout, charting the band?s own unique guitar-led journey through the outer edges of space-rock and hypnotic kosmisch." - Terrscope review of ?Lossless Loss? LP
Insect Factory:
Insect Factory is the music of Silver Spring, MD guitarist Jeff Barsky. His playing creates thick waves of textured sound, building hypnotic and atmospheric drone fields.
In the mid-'90s, Barsky spent several years studying classical guitar and composition at the Hartt School of Music. Since then, he has continuously played in bands and improvisational collectives, performing frequently on the East Coast of the U.S., and also in Canada, throughout Europe, and Japan.
Insect Factory live performances frequently incorporate additional instrumentation, and Barsky has also collaborated onstage with the likes of avant-trumpeter Forbes Graham (of Tzadik?s Kayo Dot), bass player Joe Lally (of Fugazi), and the DC improv collective Kohoutek, which combines elements of abstract noise, heavy rhythms, free jazz, and psychedelic rock.
Barsky also co-runs the label Insect Fields, which serves as an outlet for sharing musical projects he is involved with, as well as his contemporaries. His first proper CD, ?Air Traffic Control Sleep?, was released on Insect Fields in the late summer of 2007, to acclaim from the likes of Washington Post, the Wire, and Terrascope.
Barsky?s various projects have shared the stage with acts as diverse as Bardo Pond, Mazen Kerbaj, Peter Wright, Richard Pinhas, Acid Mothers Temple, and Carla Bozulich, and he has performed at Suoni Il Per Popolo festival in Montreal, D.C.?s Sonic Circuits festival, and Terrastock 7 in Louisville, KY.
